The author of this work is unknown. The name of the person who copied the manuscript appears at the end of the work, signed Zhou Yousheng. Some have attributed authorship to Ai Nanying (1583–1646), a late-Ming essayist and literary critic, who wrote a work entitled Yu Gong tu zhu (Explanatory text to the map of the Yu Gong), the central concept of which was the traditional Chinese view on geography. According to that view, Yu of the Xia dynasty (circa 2070–circa 1600 BC) divided the Middle Kingdom into ...

The author of this work was Chen Zushou (died 1637), a late-Ming literary author. A native of Yanling (present-day Changzhou, Jiangsu Province), Chen Zushou received his jin shi degree in 1634 and became, in the following year, an official at the Bureau of Operations, one of the four bureaus in the Ministry of War. In 1636, while working at the ministry, he wrote this book, based on a large number of earlier works and contemporary local records, including maps. The original edition, very rich in content, had three juan in ...

Truyện Kiều (The tale of Kiều), written by Nguyễn Du (1765−1820) is regarded as the most significant poem in Vietnamese literature. It was composed in Lục-bát (6-8) stanzas and its original title in Vietnamese is Ðoạn Trường Tân Thanh (A new cry from a broken heart). However, it is better known as Truyện Kiều or Kim Văn Kiều. The story is based on a 17th century Ming Chinese novel, which Nguyễn Du discovered while he was on an ambassadorial mission to China in 1813. The plot portrays the chaotic ...

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, originally designed as a student project by Maya Lin for her degree at Yale University Architectural School, has become a profound national symbol and a seminal piece of American monumental architecture. Undertaken to heal a nation torn apart by the controversial war, the competition attracted proposals from thousands of veterans and architects. Lin envisioned a black granite wall, in the shape of a V, on which the names of the American military dead and missing would be inscribed. The architect hoped that "these names, seemingly infinite ...

This undated brush and ink manuscript map of Vietnam during the 19th century combines features of the traditional cartography practiced in both China and Vietnam with some Western elements. The place names and a text block in the lower right-hand corner are in classical Chinese calligraphy, the writing system used by both Chinese and Vietnamese scholar-officials. Traditional elements include its pictorial style (mountains, trees, and structures such as the border gate between Vietnam and China), lack of precise scale, and emphasis on mountains and water. A large number of mountains ...

La colonisation de l’Indo-Chine: L’Expérience anglaise (The colonization of Indochina: the English experience) is an 1892 case study of the British colonial experience in Asia and its lessons for France in the administration of French Indochina (present-day Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam). The author, influential French essayist and colonial theorist Joseph Chailley-Bert (1854–1928), was a passionate advocate of reforming France’s colonization practices and governing strategies, which he argued were deficient in both design and execution, and of the need to draw upon the successful experiences of the ...

Louis de Grandpré was a French army officer who made an extensive tour of the Indian Ocean region in 1789-90. This account of his voyage is an English translation of the original French version, which was published in Paris in 1801 under the title Voyage dans l’Inde et au Bengale fait dans les années 1789 et 1790, contenant la description des îles Séchelles et de Trinquemaly. Grandpré began his voyage in the French-controlled Île de France (Isle of France), as Mauritius was called, passed by the Maldives, and visited ...

In 1832, U.S. president Andrew Jackson, acting on the advice of Secretary of the Navy Levi Woodbury, dispatched Edmund Roberts as a “special agent of the government,” empowered to negotiate treaties of amity and commerce with countries in Asia. The objective was to expand trade between these countries and the United States. Between early 1832 and May 1834, Roberts circumnavigated the globe. In the course of his journey, he negotiated treaties with the Sultan of Muscat (Oman) and the King of Siam (Thailand). Following his return to the United ...

This brochure, in English and French, was intended for tourists to French Indo-China. It extols the virtues of the region and its people, and includes a brief history and description of the country, followed by detailed maps and photographs of famous sites. Also included are a proposed itinerary and information about transportation, lodging, and prices. The brochure was produced by the Touring Club de France (Touring Club of France), a civic organization established in 1890 to promote tourism in France and later, in its colonies. The club published hotel and ...

Jacques Bellin (1703-72) was a prolific cartographer attached to the French Marine Office. His sea atlases reflected the careful mapping of bays, seas, and harbors that characterized 18th-century French naval cartography. In 1764, he published Le Petit Atlas Maritime (Small maritime atlas), a work in five volumes, containing 581 maps. This map, from the third volume of the atlas, shows the kingdoms of southeast Asia as they appeared in the mid-18th century, including Ava and Pegu (present-day Burma), Siam (Thailand), Cambodia, and Tonkin (part of present-day Vietnam). Also shown are ...

This map of Indochina, published under the auspices of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Colonies, was compiled by Pierre-Paul Cupet (1859-1907), Jean-Baptiste Friquegnon (1858-1934), and Joseph de Malglaive (1862-1914), all officers in the French Army and members of the Pavie Mission. Auguste Pavie (1847-1925) was a French naval officer, explorer, and colonial administrator who, between 1879 and 1895, led a series of expeditions in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and southern China. These expeditions undertook cartographic surveys and ethnographic studies, producing a large body of maps, photographs, and written documentation ...

This 1881 map of eastern Indochina is by Jules Léon Dutreuil de Rhins (1846-94), a French naval officer, explorer, and geographer. Dutreuil de Rhins led an adventurous life that took him to Mexico, the Congo, Indochina, and Central Asia. In 1876-77, he commanded a ship in the navy of the King of Annam, and in 1879 published a book entitled Le royaume d’Annam et les Annamites (The kingdom of Annam and the Annamites). Dutreuil de Rhins is best known for his expeditions to Central Asia and Tibet, where he ...

This photograph of a scene in Vietnam is from the Frank and Frances Carpenter Collection at the Library of Congress. Frank G. Carpenter (1855–1924) was an American writer of books on travel and world geography, whose works helped to popularize cultural anthropology and geography in the United States in the early years of the 20th century. Consisting of photographs taken and gathered by Carpenter and his daughter Frances (1890–1972) to illustrate his writings, the collection includes an estimated 16,800 photographs and 7,000 glass and film negatives ...

This photograph of a scene in Saigon (present-day Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam is from the Frank and Frances Carpenter Collection at the Library of Congress. Frank G. Carpenter (1855–1924) was an American writer of books on travel and world geography, whose works helped to popularize cultural anthropology and geography in the United States in the early years of the 20th century. Consisting of photographs taken and gathered by Carpenter and his daughter Frances (1890–1972) to illustrate his writings, the collection includes an estimated 16,800 photographs and ...

This photograph taken in Saigon (present-day Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam is from the Frank and Frances Carpenter Collection at the Library of Congress. Frank G. Carpenter (1855–1924) was an American writer of books on travel and world geography, whose works helped to popularize cultural anthropology and geography in the United States in the early years of the 20th century. Consisting of photographs taken and gathered by Carpenter and his daughter Frances (1890–1972) to illustrate his writings, the collection includes an estimated 16,800 photographs and 7,000 ...

In 1832 U.S. president Andrew Jackson, acting on the advice of Secretary of the Navy Levi Woodbury, dispatched Edmund Roberts as a “special agent of the government,” empowered to negotiate treaties of amity and commerce with countries in Asia. The objective was to expand trade between these countries and the United States. Between early 1832 and May 1834, Roberts circumnavigated the globe in the U.S. Navy sloop Peacock. In the course of his journey, he negotiated agreements with the sultan of Muscat (Oman) and the king of Siam ...